The Island Survivor and Liberation Suivre l’histoire

I once knew a young man in his early 20s who became lost at sea and ended up all alone on a deserted island somewhere in the South Pacific. With absolutely no survival skills he could utilize, he simply wandered about the island, looked at everything disparagingly, and wondered how he would ever survive the calamity set upon him. Unable to come up with an answer for the first time in his life he prayed to his God tobe rescued from what he conceded to be a certain death. He prayed some more and he waited but his God never answered.After a few more days, the young man was completely desperate and on the verge of simply giving up. He was unable to even meet his basic needs for water, food, and shelter. So now at his lowest point, his God not providing for a rescue, he stopped fighting against the island.

With this new mindset, he realized that he needed to pay closer attention to what the island had to offer and his surroundings. He started taking advantage of every opportunity that would allow him to live one more day since he desperately wanted to survive. In order to secure water, he used a plastic container that had washed ashore on the beach from some unknown place. He discovered it could be used to collect the morning's dew and any rainfall that might have during the evening hours. His shelter became a shallow cave along the shore that provided him enough protection from the elements and a cool breeze during the hot tropical days. He learned to start a fire with a stick and string to provide light, heat in the evenings, and to keep away any wild animals of the island. He also learned how to fish using his shoelaces and eventually had a good source of continued protein.

Although still alone his mind became completely focused, he noticed the patterns occurring in his life, and more than just surviving he was thriving. The island provided him with meaning, and he developed a true purpose for his life. One that he never possessed before in his previous aimless existence. Being as one with the island, lead him to a more righteous life according to its laws and he worked at maintaining this positive energy. Thus, anyone who could have viewed him would have instantly said that the island had become an extension of his physical body and that there was a symmetrical bond between the two.

However, time continued to pass, and despite his dominion over the environment, he felt as if something was still missing. Then one evening in the moonlight from the mouth of his shallow cave he saw a beautiful young woman emerge from the ocean. At first, he was cautious and somewhat scared but eventually, he summoned the courage and met her at the shore. Both of them being alone eventually developed a close friendship and sometime later (no rescue forth coming), a very intimate relationship that fulfilled both their physical desires. Of course, his purpose for her was always of the noblest of intent and he was pure in action in his effort to live a righteous life. The two of them were deeply in love and in time the couple produced two beautiful children that resembled gods rather than human beings. With adequate shelter, enough food, water, and a spiritual connectedness, the couple felt as if they were on top of the world. They enjoyed watching their young children play on the island's beaches and in its forests, but time always passes.

As the years went by the children continued to grow and eventually partners for them miraculously showed up on the shore as did his own wife so many years before. This time the man was prepared because he had the foresight to use his considerable skills to build a perfect home for them all. In the process his wealth increased, and he attained prosperity in abundance. With it, the population of the island grew. He developed homes, gardens, and a very successful fishing industry all over the island. He no longer desired or needed anything from the outside world. This prosperity he achieved not for the wealth itself, as he had no attachment to money, but rather for the sake of his family that he hoped would continue to prosper and grow when he was no longer with them.

In the last stage of his life having nothing left in the world to accomplish, he simply detached himself from his own thoughts and perceptions, feelings, and all the ties that bound him to the physical world. He left the island by swimming out of sight. What he finally understood after all those years was the infinite unity between all things and how the individual soul was connected to the universal soul. He achieved this insight by trusting in a Supreme Architect of the Universe whether he knew it or not which provided him all that was needed. He was thankful to God for allowing him to progress through the various stages of life successfully, and the ability to give it up. He attained knowledge, focused actions and developed the necessary qualities of devotional service.

It's called dhrama and was explained by his struggles and progression through the stages of life on the island. Truth be told, the island that he was always trying to escape never really existed physically in time or space but was rather a creation of God’s energy designed to confuse the human mind. It's called Maya or illusion and is intended to trap us in the cycle of continued birth and death. Moksha the last stage in the process can only be achieved by detaching from the material world and acquiring a divine understanding. It frees the soul from the struggles and pain caused by material existence and liberates the soul from the endless cycle of life, death, and rebirth. In Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead tells Arjuna that one should give up everything and surrender to Him, and if one were to do this, moksha was assured.

So you have been told a story about a man deserted on an island in the South Pacific. The message is more important than the words or story. What each of us needs to consider is what kind of island we are stranded on? One that is physical in nature, interpreted by the human mind and senses, and made of illusion, and intended to keep us trapped on the physical plain,or one with hope and purpose. The ultimate goal of life is always to escape illusion and return home to the Supreme Architect of the Universe. Thanks for reading and considering!

The end always leads to another beginning.